Thursday, January 05, 2012

Twenty years ago, Nigeria was black Africa's powerhouse, with seemingly, at the time, prospects of becoming as prosperous as South Africa.

That prospect, that dream, is being relentlessly demolished. Because Nigeria is going the Lebanon way, and if current trends continue, I foresee a civil war that will make the dreadful Biafra conflict of the sixties pale by comparison.

"Nigeria is an example of a country on the cusp of becoming Islamic: its population is now about 50% Muslim. As a result, it is subject to continuous low-level internecine warfare, punctuated by occasional flare-ups into massive violence, such as the Christmas Day bombings that killed dozens of people.

Yet Nigeria is not a true nation. It is not a homogeneous ethnic and cultural entity, but simply a patchwork relic of British colonialism. If it had formed naturally, it would consist of at least two states: a northern one (mostly Muslim) and a southern one (mostly non-Muslim).

The devout Muslims of northern Nigeria, as represented by the terrorist group Boko Haram (“Western education is a sin”), are now trying to create a de facto sharia state in their portion of the country. That’s what the Christmas Day bombings were about. And now the follow-up is an effort to drive the Christians out of the north and into the south.

Here’s the story from Asia News:

Boko Haram Gives Three Day Ultimatum to the Christians to Flee Northern Nigeria

The “Nigerian Taliban” also advise Muslims in the south to return to the north because they risk being killed by soldiers. Thousands of Christians fleeing. The bishops reject the sectarian drift of the conflict and ask for more security, but also no retaliation.

Lagos (AsiaNews / Agencies) - Christians in northern Nigeria have three days to leave the area before a series of attacks against them: This is the ultimatum set by the radical Islamic sect Boko Haram, which has claimed responsibility for the massacres that took place Christmas day in 12 sites across the states of Yobe and Borno (northeast), Niger (West), Plateau (central Nigeria). The killings have claimed the lives of over 40 people and already thousands of Christians are fleeing in terror.

The ultimatum comes a few days after the decision by President Goodluck Jonathan (a Christian) to declare a state of emergency for the areas attacked, with the deployment of armed soldiers.

It’s interesting that Boko Haram consider it necessary to advise Muslims to flee the south of Nigeria and move north: